Perceptions of print

[Andy Y]

I'm interested to look at what individual members' perceptions of the printed monthlies actually is. Rather than it being a discussion or responding to others' comments I'm looking for peoples' positives and negatives (constructively and politely phrased) of any of the traditional magazines in terms of style, content, balance, value etc. What are the comparative strengths and weaknesses?

 

Please be clear to which magazine you are referring to with any comments. I'm sure folk from the mags will read up in due course so please be courteous and not inflammatory!

[Ozexpatriate]

Andy, are you looking to confine this to British publications?

[Andy Y]

Not necessarily Oz; I think there's positives and negatives that can be found whatever the source.

[Phil-Essex]

Model Rail (Subscriber)

Positives: Good impartial and in depth reviews that cover looks and performance of new models. I particularly like the individual ratings given for value, performance, features etc. As a beginner the Workbench section with it's tutorials and supertests is an excellent resource. In my opinion it has the best layout with superb photography.

 

Negatives:It would be nice to see a better website which could if done correctly would enhance the magazine.

 

Hornby Magazine (Probably buy 6 issues a year)

Positives: Good layout and presentation with some excellent photography. I like the 'Make a scene' tutorials which have included a fire station, builders yard etc. The locomotive fact files that accompany some of the loco reviews are good too.

 

Negatives:

I feel the reviews section really lets this magazine down. A lot of the reviews seem to read like a press release rather than giving a true appraisal of a model, this is especially so for wagons, coaches etc.

 

Railway Modeller

I used to subscribe to the Modeller when I was growing up (80s) and really enjoyed it. However I feel it has been a little bit left behind in terms of look, feel & layout when compared to some of the newer titles.

[edcayton]

It's pretty much down the content of each issue for me which is why I do the WHS thing. Overall I think Hornby mag gets my vote because it seems to have more of what I like and the paper etc is good. Still like the Modeller (subscribed for over 20 years) but get put off by too much narrow gauge sometimes. BRM is OK but variable; chief dislike is not-to-scale plans. I'm afraid that I am another put off by the paper of Model Rail-if I am spending £4 odd I want a nice sensual experience!

 

MRJ I consider "out of my league" although I do have a sneaky look to see if there is something I really want to see.What I tend to do is to wait for references to specific issues for articles on layouts that interest me, and then buy the back number from Wild Swan at shows.

 

Hope this of some help?

 

Ed

[brossard]

I get BRM, MR and Hornby Magazine. I like all of them but, maybe it's me, a lot of the layouts seem uninspired lately. I like to read RM but don't buy it - my friend does though.

 

My absolute favorite is Model Railway Journal. I've been working on filling in the blanks of missing issues over the past few years. I love to see what the "creme de la creme" are doing. It's a standard I haven't achieved but looking at what these guys produce inspires me to do better.

 

John

[Ozexpatriate]

Model Railroader (Kalmbach Publishing, Milwaukee, WI)

 

Overall:

 

Model Railroader is pretty much the definitive US regular modellers magazine. I've subscribed for several years and renewed my subscription for 2012. It's pretty formulaic - but that's not necessarily a bad thing, since I think it's pretty well balanced.

 

Contents normally include:

• Industry news - tradeshows, new product announcements etc
  
• Big layout feature
  
• A couple of 'How To' features
  
• A second layout or layout concept feature
  
• DCC column
  
• Locomotive Reviews - Usually H0 and N
  
• Reader lineside photographs
  
• A handful of regular columns: editorial, workbench suggestions, general observations with an eye to operation
  

Suscribers also have access to downloadable online content like layout videos and trackplans.

 

Positives:

I have always liked the "big layouts". A lot of effort goes into the accompanying scale track diagrams and photo locations. This month's edition has some snow pictures that I glanced at and really want to look at more closely.

 

There's a wide variety of "how to" topics which I like. Scenery, baseboards, wiring, track, structures, and model detailing all get aired in 'how to' items. There are a lot of regular contributors. When these are of the calibre of Pelle Søeborg that's pretty good. I like the balance.

 

This month there's what looks like a nice article on O gauge Western Electric streetcars. I haven't read it yet but the pictures looked nice.

 

Negatives:

'Sameyness' issue to issue. After a while I find that I'm not reading them as avidly as I did but I don't think that's a function of the magazine's quality or content, perhaps some inevitable burn out. Nevertheless, the December edition arrived yesterday and I'm keen to read it over the weekend.

 

After a while (multiple issues) the annual track plan extras lose their wow factor, but I'm still buying them.

[Guest dilbert]

I admit that a few years ago I used to subscribe to the monthly mags - these days I'll buy the odd magazine when I'm in the UK.

 

I don't have the space to stockpile back issues, so I used to cut out articles of interest for future reference. It got to the stage where I was chucking out entire magazines and each mag monthly was around 35%-50% advertising (and a lot of that was duplication), so gradually the subscriptions were not renewed.

 

If I was to renew subs. to the mainstreams mags, this would cost me about £220 per annum - for that sort of money I prefer buying books (or DVDs) on railway modelling or reference material pertaining to prototype railway interests - these just seem to have an everlasting appeal and get well used.

 

I might be tempted to subscribe to electronic versions of mags, but this seems to be a very long way from becoming a reality. Also, concerning the retail side, more accurate information is available on the web and in a timely fashion.

 

I find RMweb an excellent medium for both prototype and railway modelling info that covers a larger spectrum than the monthly mags will ever do. In this respect, I chip in my annual contribution at the start of each new year and find myself in midyear buying raffle tickets as well (not a brag, but that is the way it is).

 

The only 'periodical' that I get on a regular basis is the GWRJ - though I treat this a book rather than a 'mag'... dilbert

[highpeak]

Railroad Model Craftsman (Carstens Publications)

 

RMC ploughs a slightly different furrow to MR and usually features articles that emphasize the Craftsman part of the title. The general format is similar with a featured layout, a variety of how-to articles and a range of departments.

 

I would love to see the demographics of the two main print publications in the US because I suspect RMC might cater to an older audience. There are perhaps fewer articles on DCC, and the projects tend to skew towards bygone eras. For instance, there has been a lengthy series on older industries such as creameries and coal merchants whereas MR might tend more towards ethanol plants and the like.

 

As with MR, the format can tend to be a bit "samey" to use Ozexpatriate's excellent term, but it's a rare issue that doesn't contain some idea that can be applied elsewhere. I view it as a friend dropping in, some months there's not much new, other months it's a great read.

[pointstaken]

Further observations on "Model Railroader"

 

Possibly too many large "took me and the guys ten years to build" type layouts, BUT you can alway take chunks of these layouts and use them elsewhere, and the trackplans are always very well described and detailed, so well worth looking at.

More "owitsdun" type articles of late, recognising the changes in the current economic climate.

Product reviews are reasonably informative, if sometimes a little inclined towards rivet counters.

 

Dennis

[Nile_Griffith]

Hello Andy

 

If I aim to purchase any of the monthly's then it tends to be "Model Rail". My modelling motivations are modern image stuff and if honest the likes of "Hornby" magazine and the rest seem to my eye at least, more focussed on steam era modelling.

 

That said I do get to a point with "Model Rail" where the merry go round comes around again and the same topics get regurgitated within whatever the new presentation format is.

 

Although I find the writing style and reviews of factual information well balanced and presented. I do get tired of the headlined "Super tests". Which for me seem to be nothing more than slightly expanded product listings that take up far to much page space. It would also be good to see work bench topics go into a little more detail within the article. There invariably seems to be plenty of narrative and not to much nuts and bolts descriptive. With a lot of the featured projects. I can't make my mind up whether this is down to a reluctance on the part of the magazine to go too far for fear of readers writing back in complaining that "you said this". Should there own projects back fire...... maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age.

 

As said. I don't really pick up any of the other monthly's on a regular basis, but what I have read tends to be of simillar character to the above. In that the editorial is very good at creating the skeleton of an article, but fails to put real meat on the bones. So to speak.

 

Without appearing to want to blow hot air up your bum. My main source of info, news and views. Is from the Forum. I particularly enjoyed the first online magazine. Like most I feel a bit aggrieved to spend the best part of four quid on a magazine that is 60% advertising.

[The Stationmaster]

Model Railroader

I no longer subscribe as I thought a year ago that it was beginning to lose its way. I don't think it's quite so bad now and I do buy occasional copies if there is anything which grabs my interest or I think will be of use. Big pluses are the way 'constructional' style articles are illustrated and the standard of trade reviews, big minus is the mixing of editorial and ad pages through the mag.

I love their annual layout plan issue and always buy it - lots of interesting ideas.

 

Railway Modeller - regular purchaser since 1959 (my dad paid for it back then). Amazing how the house appearance had gradually and subtly changed over the years but it still feels the same and remains instantly recognisable. Always good for 'Layout Of the Month' plus other articles which vary in interest but are fairly consistent in quality and it has definitely improved a lot since its most recent editorial change. Big plus is the separation of editorial and ad content, excellently laid out classifieds/exhibitions etc section, wide range of ad content. Huge minus is the abysmal reviews - and it has been like that for as long as I have been reading it.

 

British Railway Modelling - regular purchaser, and latterly subsciber, since it started. It was once a 'fresh' addition to the market but it now seems to have dropped into the doldrums although itt still comes out occasionally with some excellent articles over an eclectic mix of subject matter. I shall probably renew my subscription as the last couple of issues seemed to be on the up but it really needs a facelift.

 

Model Rail - initially a disappointing mag for me it then matured considerably and I have been a subscriber for some years. Has copied a lot of good ideas from 'Model Railroader' (e.g illustrating constructional articles) and has a satisfyingly wide range of subject matter. The reviews are good but I am beginning to wonder if it is now being outflanked in that dept by 'Hornby Magazine' and it does seem to be getting worse in respect of minor factual errors/typos in reviews which at times makes me wonder about the quality of editing/detail checking, is haste 'to be first' hitting the edge of quality? The recent facelift was, I think, very successful in adding a bit of 'brightness'

 

Hornby Magazine - purchased regularly since it started and is I think still trying to work out quite what it's intended market is because it seems to be upping its game and level. Nice to look at but sub-editing type of errors, especially with prototype photos, seems to be an ongoing and unresolved problem - mind you it can be fun spotting the mistakes. Quality of reviews definitely on the up.

 

Model Railway Journal - I'm now on my 211th copy so I clearly like it even if some of the modelling is so far beyond my skills as to leave me gasping. But it does manage some interesting and varied content and give some things to aspire to, where would the hobby be without it? (oh and I like the typeface and font size - even with my less than marvellous reading distance eyesight). Small Suppliers Forum is excellent and the changing editorial chair seems to be working out well.

 

Overall it can be seen that I don't like editorial content and ad pages mixed. I now expect at least a modicum of colour but if it's not to a high standard of reproduction please don't bother, illustrated constructional articles are the way it should be done, reviews should be comprehensive and accurate or they might as well just be a pic and a short paragraph saying what it is.

 

Special offers and commissioned models. Here I have mixed views - firstly don't do it unless you can bother to spare the time and knowledge to do it properly and secondly don't do it at the expense of editorial standards in your mag. But when it is done properly - wow, how else would we have got an R-T-R Sentinel?

 

Addendum - you also asked about value. I think most are reasonably priced considering the size of market and amount of content we get for our money (even if we might not like all of it in every issue). If anyone happens to think our mags are expensive just try buying buying French or German equivalents.

[coachmann]

I haven't bought a mag since June 2010. This might have something to do with a cessation of layout building though. These used to be my thoughts.......

 

Hornby magazine (POSITIVES) Quality paper, excellent photography, illustrated reviews and quite interesting articles. (NEGATIVES) Historical data irritating when it hands down misinformation.

 

Was a subscriber to BRM but is it a good magazine today? I'll never know while its in a bag.

 

Model Rail is for post steam era modellers so I don't buy.

 

Railway Modeller never used to dissapoint but for some reason I am no longer drawn to it.

[Dave777]

Don't tend to read any of them these days, cancelled my Model Rail sub a couple of years ago, probably only get 3-4 copies a year.

 

MR still the best for 'step by step' articles, although it seems some of the 'it doesn't matter what the finished model is like, the fact that you had a go and did some modelling is the important bit' approach from earlier has been left by the wayside (contrast this with Mike's 'it then matured' comment above, just to show you can't please all the people all the time). The redesigns (2 in 3 years I think?) have moved the mag further away from the 'everymans' magazine towards more quality and realistic modelling. Good or bad? Personally I preferred the earlier, more enthusiastic 'have a go' style.

 

I get Railway Modeller 2-3 times a year. Much improved, and anything by Paul Lunn is always worth a look (see Traction magazine too), but essentially it's still stuck in a bit of a timewarp, it feels to me. Reviews, as already commented on, are more 'descriptions' than anything.

 

I haven't purchased BRM or Hornby magazines for a couple of years, would be unfair of me to comment.

 

 

General comments (sorry to break the request for magazine-specific comments): review scores - isn't it time we ditched them? Everything generally scores 60% or above, so we're not actually using the full scale anyway, like having a 1 to 10 scale and only using 6, 7, 8 and 9 (nothing ever scores 10 apparently), so essentially it becomes a 4 scale system. To avoid this we instead use 0-100 (well, 60 to 98) and then the question is what's the difference between 78% and 79%? And what are we comparing it with - are we comparing a Class 04 diesel shunter with an A4 express steam loco? Personally I'd ditch the whole scores thing and just write a summing up paragraph. If magazines pride themselves on the quality of their reviews, then the words should be all that's needed.

 

Layout articles - can we move away from the standard 'design-baseboard-trackwork-wiring-scenery-operation' format and have some different stuff like 'what were you trying to achieve and did you manage it?', 'what went right and what went wrong?', 'if you were building it again, what would you do differently?'. I did like the way that BRM had started just having two big images per page and having lengthy captions underneath instead.

[Kenton]

MRJ (Subscriber since Issue 5)

Positives: I find the majority of the content inspirational in terms of the build it type of articles and many of the layouts real show stoppers. I always read the Small Suppliers first and usually get round to the Editorial last. There is always something of interest and I still have every issue back to 0 that are often used as a combined volume of "How to Model Railway"

Negatives: Still feels as if it is in b/w (perhaps it should be!) and not only in the photography. It does sometimes spend an awful lot of its time navel gazing and waving the finescale banner (which it really doesn't have to do as the quality of material speaks for that)

[Ed] just remembered another negative: the way it splits articles over pages/issues. If it is taking more than one issue it is too long. If it can't be put on one page or following page(s) then move it and use that empty corner for a nice photo or an advert. It neally always happens when you are just getting interested</p>

Railway Modeller (Subscriber, on and off, since about 1960)

Positives: It is still way out front in the coverage of general modelling. It covers the whole range of the hobby with no partisanship to scale or gauge, manufacturer or article author, The adverts are a very important source of information especially as not all suppliers in Railway Modelling have embraced web technology. Its format is reliable and comfortable. It nearly always gives layout diagrams essential IMO for any layout article.

Negatives: Sometimes the photography lets it down with the occasional very unprofessional coverage of a layout. Until recently it had sort of got into a bit of a rut with no "How to" articles but this seems to have changed for the better. I have never really trusted the reviews as  being independent.

BRM (occassional purchase)

Positives: The layouts are generally well presented and a little bit more colourful than RM. The page layout is of a more modern style but not distractingly so. For some reason I feel the model reviews to be more trustworthy and more balanced.

Negatives: I probably don't subscribe as I find the mag very much in the OO D&E mold. I know itprobably isn't but there just seems to be less of the other scales and other aspects of the hobby.

Hornby Mag: (browse other folks' copy when really desperate for a fix)

Positives: Sorry I can't think of one.

Negatives: A bit like Hello magazine for train set owners. I find what few articles I have read very bland to the point of condescending. A terrible thing to say as I know some fine layouts have been in this mag. But I just do not like its style and approach and so as I am not a regular reader it just doesn't rate a purchase. Though I can see it may suit others - perhaps a younger audience. I still think it is unfortunate that it is called Hornby Magazine as it still gives the impression of flying the Hornby flag to the exclusion of everything else.

 

[Ed]The RMWeb editor is still screwing up the formatting when I edit a post

[Edwin_m]

Personal impressions and subjective comments only:

 

I get a lot of information from here but I'll probably buy six or seven mags a year, mostly Model Rail but a couple of Railway Modeller, often if I have a long train journey or I'm staying in a hotel with nothing else to do. I always scan the contents in Smiths before buying.

 

Not surprisingly I find Model Rail closest to my interests, generally well written/illustrated and giving the impression of being accurate and authoritative. Main downside for me is the amount of space devoted to plugging other in-house products, but when I said that on another thread I was roundly shouted down so I'll shut up about it now. Sometimes the "themed" issues put me off buying if the theme is of little interest to me (though I did buy and enjoy the micro layouts issue despite not being into micros). This month I was looking forward to "build your own command station", but it turned out to be nothing of the sort! I used to think it a little bit tabloid but I think it is less so know (or perhaps I'm getting used to it?).

 

The main reason I don't buy the Modeller more often is that it still seems to be dominated by steam era with two or three narrow gauge articles in each magazine. However it does strike me as a solid and impressive publication, probably because of the decent paper and amount of advertising. If I buy one I find it useful to skim the ads and find out what is on the market, since more traders seem to advertise here than anywhere else.

 

I haven't bought BRM for a while as it's always in a bag. I bought several bagged copies a few years ago and was disappointed. It seemed a little cliquey, possibly because there were many multi-part articles which were difficult to get into if you hadn't read the earlier ones. Also seemed very much focused on steam era.

 

Never really been able to get on with Hornby magazine. For a start the name is a downer for me - I know it has nothing to do with Hornby but it still says it's not for me as Hornby has virtually no precence in N gauge. I don't know how they got away with selling a Hornby (magazine) Stove R actually built by Dapol! And I sort of think I might get laughed at if certain people see me reading it on the train, which I don't worry about with any of the other titles. I read several of the early issues and thought it wasn't bad despite being exclusively steam era. But I've been put off trying it again by various comments on this forum and elsewhere which give me the impression that it is less careful with facts than its rivals.

 

MRJ is out of my league. I only ever bought one and it had a statement (almost a boast) that it had only ever featured one N gauge layout. So clearly not for me.

[Andy Y]

Thanks for the thoughts on here so far. I'd have thought there would have been more when you see some of the grumbles or praise within any mag topic but I guess there's more effort is sensible commentary as that above than throw-away one liners.

 

Picking up on the bag issue; how influential is a front cover on whether you choose a mag? Beyond that what makes you commit to a subscription?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

What makes me consider a purchase of any magazine is the content discussion here. That's a far better guide to what's of interest inside than the cover. It is mostly reference material such as Steve Banks train formation articles that ran in MR that press the 'buy' button.

[Welly]

The only railway modelling mag I subscribe to is Model Rail because at the time I first came across it during the late 1990s it was a really fresh magazine that stood out from the others!

 

I do occasionally buy MRJ and Railway Modeller if there is something interesting in it.

 

My impression of Hornby and British Railway Modelling mags are that they look and feel the same as each other!

 

To be honest, I don't think there is room for another paper magazine in the British market and that there aren't enough quality layouts to be featured in the mags!

[Trevellan]

It's an interesting debate Andy. I've read all of the British journals over the years, usually according to my primary interests at the time. A quick personal round-up as of today:

 

Model Rail (subsciber). For my money, currently some way ahead of the pack, since the workbench articles tend to reflect my present needs better than the competition. It's interesting to see that certain regular features have been dropped in recent issues because of pressure on space. That can be seen as a good or bad sign, according to personal taste.

 

BRM (subscriber). IMHO, a bit hit and miss over recent issues, but generally a worthwhile read.

 

Hornby Magazine. I tend to review this monthly and have ended up buying every issue since its launch. Like all the mags, for my personal taste some months are far better than others. However, I'd venture to suggest that the introduction of HM forced the others to raise their game, to the point that HM itself is now under pressure to maintain quality month after month.

 

I still buy the occasional issue of Railway Modeller and even MRJ, although the latter only when it has an article that grabs me by the throat. Chris Pendlenton's Deltic and Tim Shackleton's Western upgrades spring readily to mind.

 

HTH.

[The Stationmaster]

Committing to a Subscription?

1. There's a good offer on which will save me money on something I'm likely to buy anyway.

2. In some cases (although not now locally) availability and timely arrival on the shelves at the local shop could be patchy - subscription is much more reliable and (in my own case) usually punctual although BRM was not so good a few months back. And more noticeable nowadays once I've the subscription going is the fact that it saves me going out if the weather's not so welcoming etc.

3. In every case when I have started a sub the mag was appealing and attractive and interesting to me - regrettably this has not always held true over the term of the subscription but there are still occasional 'nuggets' I might otherwise miss.

 

Cancelling/Not Renewing

A. The only one where I have done this so far is 'Model Railroader' - it had some good stuff and the £ was buying a shade over $2 US at the time so a 3 year sub was a steal. But by the time of renewal it had gone downhill with only occasional interesting stuff so it is now much cheaper to buy only the copies which interest me (2 in the past year).

B. BRM remains at a tipping point for me with renewal now due - it has emerged a bit from the doldrums recently but I'm still wary of renewing.

 

Plastic Bagging

If you trust the style of the mag and its normal quality/content sufficiently to buy it as a 'loyal' customer plastic bags make no difference as far as I'm concerned. If your interests are very specialised or particularly discerning why not look on RMWeb where the contents of all the mainstream mags now seem to be listed within minutes of them appearing (or sometimes even before they appear) instead of muttering about wicked scheming publishers trying to remain in business or your inability to use WHS as a lending library? (sorry to sound harsh on that one but ...).

 

PS And I agree wholeheartedly with Dave 777 about 'scoring' reviews - summarising good points & bad points is a 'requirement' but the scoring thing often seems nonsenical when related to comments made in the text.

[Coombe Barton]

I buy MRJ - every time

 

I buy any of the others if, when I look through therm there's something of interest, or if someone on here has posted a table of contents and I find that there's somethig of interest (Torrington and Brewhouse Quay from recent issues). I donlt buy them regularly if there's no articles of interest (for me) as there's no point in buying for the ads - I;m not into loads of RTR.

 

Instead of spending the cash on mags that's a couple of wagon kits a month. These lie around in packets as I need to up my stock levels.

 

Why?

 

I blame RMWeb. If I want to get information on technique I come here. I may not be very good but I'll experiment

 

So the real question is - why MRJ? Well, I'm a "text and diagrams" person if I want to find out how to rather then a "photos" person. Photos for me back up the text in magazine, but are not the reason for it. Photos are much easier and quicker with a digital camera than sitting down and drawing something out. I'm not going to sit and count 'how many words per pic' in magazines but I feel that there's rather more in MRJ than the others. Don't know how MI will turn out, but that's a download.

[Guest dilbert]

Re. the bagging point... not an issue for me. The front cover needs to succinctly pique my interest though.

 

In the end a bagged mag in a shop is much the same a subscription copy - it serves to protect the contents through distribution systems. Many a comment about the great 'unwashed' at railway exhibitions has been made - one of those could have been thumbing the unbagged copy you are about to buy... dilbert

[2ManySpams]

Hi Andy

 

I've gone in the last 18 months from having 2 subscriptions and purchasing other mags at random to probably buying only 4 mags a year. What are the reasons? Well I think that once you've had mags for a few years you tend to find an awful lot of repetition in the 'how to' type articles. Personally my view is that much of the modelling content is now dumbed down and often relies heavily on minor tweaks to RTR and RTP. I'm sure this ticks boxes for many folk but I'm after something that teaches new ways of doing things, and there's lots more folk pushing boundaries here on RMweb. As for the '102 ways to XXXX' type mini leaflets and articles - it really smacks of trashy Hello mag type writing - particularly as many of the suggestions are really quite weak and tenuous.

 

The news and reviews sections I think have also weakened over time. I'm not sure that many of the reviews are as authoritative and accurate as they used to be and some of the inaccurate prototype comments I've noted could mislead or impact on sales. I've occasionally written in to correct the occasional error but none has ever been published, giving the impression that accuracy isn't as important anymore (MRJ excepted). The flip side is that sometimes reading the news and reviews is getting akin to reading manufacturer's brochures and press releases. Again I find the news and reviews on here more balanced, with a consensus generally being reached on a products accuracy and measures to improve it.

 

I've also detected a move in recent years for the mags to push their own special products and pet brands. One mag in particular often has posed shots of one brand's adhesives and weathering powders in articles, the same products that can be ordered from the mag.... Fine, but I really hate being sold too and having products pushed. Unfortunately this is probably a sign of the times and the mags pushing to get every penny they can in tough commercial times. I agree with the comments above about the "Top 10 XXX" product comparison type articles too - the scoring often seems random with identical products receiving different scores and house pushed products strangely receiving top scores.....

 

Perhaps the real problem is that there's too many mags and not enough content to go round. The answer is for more people to write articles. This is something I've enjoyed doing in the past and have stopped doing after seeing articles edited adding in errors and inaccuracies. There seldom seems to be the opportunity to check through a proof and catch the errors. My preference now is to post on here - an environment where I have control over the content.

 

So now I tend to pop into Smiffs every other month have a quick flick through the big 4 and only buy a copy if there's something that interests me or a particularly well photographed layout. The one area that really has improved all round is model and layout photography. The coming of digital cameras has really improved things and the likes of Mr Nevard have shown the way in this respect. Some of the shots are now truly breathtaking - reflecting the skill of the photographer and modeler.

 

Regards

 

Chris

[David Bigcheeseplant]

MRJ I brought it from the very first one, some issues have been better than others although still much better than any other mag.

 

I do buy some of the others if I find something of interest,

 

I used buy Railway Modeller from around 1980/1981 and think issue i brought freatured Tamrig with the coming of MRJ I swiched to that.

 

Model Rail is ok but there is some content that just anoys me. Also hate the thin toilet paper its printed on.

 

BRM used to be ok when first published but I think has really gone down hill in the last few years.

 

Hornby Mag I like the quality and although some content is a bit basic for me I do like the way this mag has developed

 

David